To listen to U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet, he is the Ivory soap of Colorado politics — 99.44% pure, when it comes to corporate campaign contributions. Actually, Bennet would insist he is 100% pure.

Bennet claims he does not seek or accept corporate contributions for his campaign for governor. He made the same claim during his three campaigns for the Senate.

It wasn’t true then, and it isn’t true now. Bennet was a corporate money hypocrite during his Senate campaigns in 2010, 2016 and 2022 just like he is today.

New York corporate billionaire Michael Bloomberg, who is worth more than $109 billion, recently gave Bennet $500,000 to support his campaign for governor, which is loose change for Bloomberg.

Bennet will scream to high heaven his campaign did not receive $500,000 from billionaire Bloomberg. He will claim this money did not go to his official gubernatorial campaign account, “Bennet for Governor,” which can only accept personal contributions from individuals up to $1,450.

But Bennet’s allies have created a “super PAC” called “Rocky Mountain Way,” whose sole purpose is to support Bennet’s campaign for governor, and it can accept unlimited contributions. So far, “Rocky Mountain Way” has raised $2.2 million with $500,000 of that coming from New York corporate billionaire Michael Bloomberg.

Colorado voters can expect to see massive, unlimited expenditures for broadcast media, digital media and traditional mail in 2026 supporting Bennet for governor and attacking his opponents in the primary and general elections, all paid for by “Rocky Mountain Way” and not his campaign.

Bennet might even argue the $500,000 was a “personal” contribution from Bloomberg and not from his corporation. Since Bloomberg became a billionaire due to his corporate interests he still owns, this is a joke.

Why can’t Bennet just admit campaign finance laws obfuscate the ability of candidates like him to raise hundreds of thousands of dollars from corporate interests that support their campaigns without technically violating the law?

And if Bennet is truly anti-corporate money, why does he silently stand back and watch “Rocky Mountain Way” accept $500,000 from a New York corporate titan?

Why doesn’t “Ivory Soap” Bennet publicly condemn and repudiate “Rocky Mountain Way” and insist it reject and return the corporate money?

Self-righteous declarations of anti-corporate political purity only go so far.

Bennet knows campaign finance laws greatly benefit a corporate incumbent favorite like him which allow him to have it both ways. He publicly condemns corporate money while taking it in the back door of his campaign to be elected governor just like he did during his three Senate campaigns.

Frankly, this Bloomberg-Bennet situation exposes why state and federal campaign finance laws should be totally repealed. Campaigns should be allowed to raise and spend unlimited amounts of money from any source except for foreign money and require complete and immediate disclosure.

Voters can make their own decisions on how candidates are influenced by their donors. They don’t need the fig leaf of campaign finance laws with phony and ineffective limits on contributions to protect them.

Beyond Bennet’s corporate hypocrisy, he is under investigation by the Colorado Secretary of State’s office for continuing to raise and spend money from his federal Senate campaign account while running for governor. Federal campaign funds cannot be spent in a state campaign.

Though it is doubtful Bennet has clearly violated campaign finance laws, his Senate campaign apparently got sloppy in spending money that could be tied to the state campaign.

Bennet will maintain his federal account because if his campaign for governor is unsuccessful he will still be a senator until 2028 when he could run for reelection for a fourth term. Bennet has been in the Senate for 17 years and if he actually served out his current senate term, he would be Colorado’s longest serving senator at 20 years.

Attorney General Phil Weiser, Bennet’s Democratic primary opponent, has a super PAC called “Fighting for Colorado” raising unlimited funds to support his campaign. It has raised only $216,000 compared to the Bennet super PAC’s $2.2 million.

Weiser needs to find his own corporate billionaires to narrow the gap with Bennet.

Dick Wadhams is a former Colorado Republican state chairman who managed campaigns for U.S. Sens. Hank Brown and Wayne Allard, and Gov. Bill Owens. He was campaign manager for U.S. Senate Majority Leader John Thune of South Dakota in 2004 when Thune unseated Senate Democratic Leader Tom Daschle.